Short, fat carbine of a crossbow

Here is my latest, and a sort of quicky project. The main function of this project was to try out some new methods and materials. Sorry about the lousy quality of the photos, and the cluttered background. Clean, but cluttered.

The tiller is made from two 1" flame birch boards. This is probably the last time I will do laminated tiller construction for a while. The nut is black delrin, a new material for me. I turned in a couple of docorative grooves, and used a cat. 8 bolt for the sear. The single biggest thing is that I wanted to rivet in the trigger rather that use threaded rod, and it was really not so difficult. I used mild steel rod from a home improvement store. The hard part is not whacking your tiller. Yes, I did, but pressed on. The total lenght of the tiller is 28", and the curved tiller seems to really facilitate aiming. It could perhaps have been more graceful in design, but I wanted to a slab sided tiller that was handy to carry and use, had some nice curves, and was on the short, fat side. I kept thinking of pugs as I layed it out.

The bolt groove is a new approach for me, as well. Notice that there are a few tiny gaps, i.e. not perfect inletting in the bolt groove bone, but I was rushing this, blew it, had to remove the bone inserts I had glued in the first time, and thus....never rush is the lesson, and working when you are tired and should be having a beer is never a good idea.

The prod, stirrup and trigger are cannibilized from an earlier project, all made by Alchem. I am not wild about this strirrup, but I had it, and used it. The prod pulls 100#

Another new technique was inletting bone down the lenght of the tiller, and that came out pretty well. I bought a set of Stanley Sweetheart chisels recently, and those tools just rock. I highly recommend them, but they were not cheap, as good tools arent.

I used long strand hemp for the bridle, and also for binding in the nut, kind of in keeping with a few crossbows in the book on the Danish museum collection. I brushed on hide glue this morning. Notice that I used much smaller gauge thread for the wrapping part, and really liked how it came out, rather than one long strand for the binding and the wrapping. Of course, that introduced extra knots.

You will probably notice the string is not touching the tiller surface. I thought that would present problems, but it shoots true. I was nailing a 3D deer each time about about 25 meters. The bolt starts to occillate at about 100 yards, so that is probably an issue I will address later, but at standard crossbow ranges, I am fine with it. The string doesnt jump the bolt, a concern when I started testing.

The stirrup is held on by rawhide lacing woven into a basket pattern. This time, I let the rawhide soak for hours, and it was very easy to work with. It is still actually drying, as is the hide glue I brushed on the binding threads. I will apply a little neatsfoot oil once the stuff is totally dried. And the finish on the tiller, btw, is TrueOil, about six coats. I opted for a shiny, bling look, though if you buff it down with steel wool, it gives you nice matt finish, and a very tough finish.

The string is 100 strands of B50. That gives me an approx. 5000# string, which is more than safe enough. Serving material was modern serving thread.

Tomorrow I am attending a large primitive skills gathering in Woodbury, CT. It is a great event I attend each year, and will bring this, the 200# black walnut crossbow, the Chinese repeater, and my Horton 125 scout so I can play Derryl Dixon. They have a full 3D course set up on the 50 acre site, so i will put this through it's paces and let you all know how it performed.

Thanks so much, guys. Ferdi, it is real bone. I get little slabs, so I dont have to do that much work, just cutting them to size and inletting them. Bone is so nasty to work with, but nothing beats the real thing. I use a respirator when I cut and work bone. I dont take any risks with that stuff!

I like it! Simple, straightforward, sturdy... the word "pugnacious" comes to mind. I really like working with the black delrin, the advantages of a modern plastic without the bright white, unatural appearance is hard to beat. Have you noticed a louder noise with the string not touching the track?

Todd, thanks! I made the string from 100 strands just because I wanted a fatter string, and I had a large roll of the tan, so there it is. It may slow things a bit, but not enough to concern myself.

So far, my impression is that aiming is really natural and effortless. Raise it and shoot, which would come in handy maybe in some situations.

Gnome, thanks. So far, I havent noticed it being louder, but will keep that in mind when I shoot tomorrow; sort of poaching the king's foam 3D deer. I should wear a medieval hood and tunic Love it...pugnacious. And I agree, delrin is nice to work with.

You should turn away, but set the camera to delayed capture...that thing is probably flexing a muscle when you're not looking. (that said....i get some wacky stock ideas...like a demonic arm with the prod bound to the wrist, etc....)

It's a Big Boy ...that's all I got to say. I'm guessing you didn't go with the multi-piece trigger on this one...did you try messing with the sear a bit as we discussed?

The crossbow performed well this past Saturday at a primitive gathering. Here is a shot of the little guy in action.

No, I kept this a single axel trigger, as I had started this before we were discussing triggers. I am going to make a German style bow just to test the 2 axel trigger before that heavy build. And, I think a reset pin would be just fine for that kind of trigger. This one, I managed to get the geometry just right, and it is a super light, pleasurable trigger. The one we were discussing I already modified, and it came out well, with a nice pull.

On this one, I will have to lower the string just a bit and deepen the bolt groove, to improve performance, but it shoots really accuratly now, more so than the operator is capable of

Dane

PS Don't let annoying kids shoot your bows too much, or you end up with no bolts by the end of the day. I am going to apply a suggestion one guy had, and paint some bolts dayglow pink. There is nothing in nature that is pink, and loosing bolts is a real drag. The duality of the color vs. the deadly nature of a crossbow is appealing to me too.

Dane, i really, really like the looks of that bow! I love the way the end of the stock curves down.....and after seeing your pics i am going to do something similar so i hope you take it as flattery!!!

Lance, I find it cool that you are inspired by my work. It isn't based upon any particular bow at all, but just something that appealed to me. I wanted to try a curved tiller, and it does feel very natural to aim and shoot. THe shorter length is nice, too. And, I didnt feel pressure to be true to any particular style.